Accurate depth perception and world scale

[Vetkin]

I've noticed in a lot of games/demos with objects at extreme distances that I don't get an accurate sense of depth perception from them.  For example, with The Climb or the ledge demo in the Oculus Dreamdeck, I don't get any vertigo or any feeling of being high up when I peer over the edge. I can tell things are further away, but it doesn't feel like the distance is that great.  Another example is with Apollo 11 VR, when I'm in a scene orbiting the earth or the moon, they feel like smaller objects about 20 feet away rather than the massive celestial bodies that they truly are. It's hard to describe, but I read a post from someone once who said it felt like they were close enough to bounce a tennis ball off of and that's how it is for me also.

At first I just assumed it was a limitation of the technology, and that depth perception of distant objects is hard to accurately represent due to the relatively low resolution of the headset, but then I keep reading about the reactions of others and how those same scenes gave them vertigo. For me they aren't immersive at all.

Then I bought Project Cars, and the first time I loaded up the game the car interior felt tiny. I found the world scale setting and upped it a bit, then decided to do some research into the most accurate world scale setting and what I found was a discussion around a bug in the Oculus SDK where the IPD was being incorrectly reported. That supposedly could result in a smaller world scale or inaccurate rendering of depth. A hack was discussed that could fix those issues and some people with above or below average IPD's claimed it drastically increased immersion.

Now I'm wondering, is that my problem? My IPD is on the lower end and I have to have the slider on the headset all the way in. I'd actually move it in further if it was physically capable of it.  Is there a chance of a magic patch someday that suddenly makes everything look correct to me, or is that how it looks for everyone? This issue, along with the unnaturally low FOV, really kills immersion for me, to the point where I always end up back on my traditional monitor for gaming sessions of any length of more than a few minutes.  I don't find it's worth the discomfort of the headset and the gradual sickness that comes from hours of gaming in VR. Maybe when room scale is prevalent and touch is out I'll feel differently.

For those people who claim to be solely dedicated to VR gaming now, how does it feel for you?

[sdplayer]

As someone who has experienced vertigo in the Rift I can definitely say that when standing on the ledge during the city scape demo I get a convincing feeling of scale and of being high above a metropolis.

However, exit hyperspace near a sun in Elite Dangerous and the scale definitely doesn't look right. Fly even closer to the sun and scale becomes increasingly less convincing (at a distance where you should be thousands of miles away from the sun's surface it looks like you could just reach out the cockpit and poke a stick into it). However, fly close to a planet or a moon and its a completely different story! I can only 'assume' current computing power can't render suns in any detail at their true size!

In Apollo 11 I get a good sense of scale when the camera is slowly flying over the Earth or moon but it still doesn't feel like you're hundreds of miles above the surface (maybe the low definition textures during these scenes contribute to this). And when the Eagle begins its descent to the moon from 5000ft it looks to me more like 100ft - but when the Eagle is 100ft above the moons surface it really does look like 100ft.

My IPD is set to 65 but the method of adjusting IPD in the Rift is pretty poor, as I can have it 2 to 3mm either way and still get sharp looking lines. A better way of adjusting IPD would have been to have two out of alignment images that converge into one when the correct IPD is dialled in.

[Syndroid]

I had this scale issue too and I made a thread about this the day I got my CV1 
https://forums.oculus.com/community/discussion/38033/cv1-scale-is-off
After having tested many apps now, I'm not sure if it's the fault of the devs or because of the bug.
The scale in many apps like The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is still way too big for me whereas in others it's perfect.

Regarding depth perception and distance. 
I found out for me that super sampling and aliasing helps with depth perception on the current hardware.
Most Anti Aliasing methods are smoothing the edges out so much, that the image becomes just flat at a certain distance where the 3D convergence is at the maximum. 
That's specially the case with Unreal engine stuff due to their shitty default AA.
That's why prefer to turn AA off or low in many cases, but it always depends on the respective scene.
High anisotrophic filtering is also important. 

Anyway, I think it will get massively better with the next gen HMDs, when it is possible to simulate depth of field via eyetracking and having higher resolution displays+higher Fov

[RorschachPhoeni]

I have a good feeling of scale when objects are very close to me. Only then you are able to compare the scale of the object with your own (ingame) scale. It works very good for me in Farlands (inside the cockpit or next to a creature) or in very small environments like the machine room in Oculus Dreamdeck.
I honestly think it is due to the lack of resolution, because more distance means less pixels. Whenever I want to feel more immersed I lean a bit forward or move closer to objects. That works very well in Farlands, Lucky's Tale and Dreamdeck. If I am standing directly in front of a tree (in Farlands) and are looking up,
then I get a very good feeling of scale. Distance is the killer here. I honestly think a better resolution will bring more immersion because of that.
The really good experiences for the Rift are made that way. Things that are closer to you are looking better and you can grasp the scale way better. If a bullet is flying in your direction, in the distance it has less pixels and it is a blurry mess. But the closer it gets, the better you can see it, and the more realistic it feels to you.

At least this is my experience so far.

[Demilson]

I'm having the same problem with the DK2 after runtime 1.3!

https://forums.oculus.com/community/discussion/comment/414778#Comment_414778

Apparently, then, some user CV1 are realizing this problem too?

It is not so easy to see, because the game is still in 3D perspective (closer objects are larger and more distant objects appear smaller); but clearly I realized that I can no longer see the depth in the games. For example, in Project Cars, I can not feel that the stand is about 20 or 30 meters away (?); in Castle Coaster game I do not feel I'm there at the top, the point of feeling vertigo and fear as before; the same for Elite Dangerous, Titans of Space, In Cell VR, War Thunder, etc.

My IPD is 64 mm, which seems to be the default of DK2; but it is as if the eyes of the observer in the game were almost together. Because; closing and opening his eyes alternately, the left image is almost identical to right image; with very little lateral displacement.

With the runtime 0.8 and earlier, the sensation VR was perfect; distant objects seemed to really get to several meters from me; the high places gave feeling dizzy and a little fear; roller coaster games gave goose bumps; etc. Now, after 1.3 runtime, unfortunately not.

Although I found that the problem is real, unfortunately, I could not find a solution. 

For my tests, the observer's eye convergence plan is closer in previous runtimes to 1.3 and further in later runtimes.

However, new users who have never experienced the previous runtimes 1.3, will hardly notice the problem.

I do not know if the Oculus did it purposely to increase performance or to reduce motion sickness, or because of timewarp, or if it's just an unseen bug (since it's kind of hard to see). But who knows, if the number of complaints increase, Oculus fix the bug!

For my part, if Oculus does not fix the problem, unfortunately, I have no more interest in buying the CV1 if it also be with this problem; because for me, the loss of immersion is very large and I do not feel in a virtual world.

I wonder if Vive users is with this same problem; or if the scale looks like the real world, with objects at the correct distance!

NOTE: Translated with the help of Google Translate.

[Greyman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS12p0Zqlt0

[Zenbane]

I think the scale is pretty damn awesome; it's always been one of the things I brag about. Immersion, scale, depth, and especially omnipresence.

I suppose there are definitely those people who experience these things differently. The fear of heights I have irl translated directly to VR. So much so that I had a very hard time standing on the Dreamdeck platform, and playing Eve-Valkyrie. It took me over a month to get my VR Legs, but constant exposure has also helped me gain control of my heights phobia irl as well.

The best part about owning the Rift has been letting family, friends, and co-workers demo it. Their reactions are priceless.

[Anonymous]

When I first setup my CV1, I went through the "City Scape" demo and I did feel Vertigo. But recently while updating the headset firmware to 1.7, I had to go through this again. I didn't feel Vertigo. I thought hmmm.... Is the novelty wearing off, or is it something else altogether?

I would love it if there was a demo where you could try switching stereoscopic depth ON/OFF. Just to see if there is validity to these claims.

I think Oculus guys are in a good position to relaese a technical demo of this sort and gain valuable feedback, purely for testing purposes.

[Kangelos]

I was thinking about this too a lot lately. I am not sure if i got used to it so much but i think i am not getting the same depth perception i used to.
Dont get me wrong, everything looks good in 3d but the depth sensation is gone for me and most apps and games i have seem a lot flatter than before.

[Demilson]

I do not think it is a kind of "placebo effect" or just because we adapt to VR; the problem is real and must be because of some change, deliberate or not, the new runtimes the Oculus Rift.

The few tests I could do, looks the observer's eye convergence plan is closer in previous runtimes to 1.3 and further in later runtimes. But I do not know if this is the cause of the problem.

I thought the problem was only with the DK2; however, I see that some CV1 users are also reporting the problem.

Of course, who never tested the Oculus Rift with runtimes 0.8 or earlier is very difficult to understand the problem; So the problem is subtle but real.

Even because I did some testing and reinstalled the 0.8 runtime and performed some games and demos and the feeling of space and immersion VR returned. In the "Castle Coaster", for example, I felt there in the heights and even goose bumps when the cart jumps off the rails. After reinstalling the runtime 1.5 again, I did not feel anything!

It was the same with "The Grand Canyon VR Experience"; with 0.8 runtime scenario looks pretty great and I am moving on the river. Now the runtime 1.5, it seems kind of "flat" (though 3D) and not feel moving me in the scenario.

I think that the representatives of Oculus here in the forum, could communicate the company to give a good checked it, to discover and solve this subtle but serious problem. Because, the lack of immersion is very large and, at least for me, comes to lose the grace of playing this "fake" VR.

Thank you!

NOTE: Translated with the help of Google Translate.